Gina Yashere

From a young age, Gina Yashere knew that she wanted to leave England. As is so often the case, it was the weather that did it for her.

“I've always wanted to live somewhere warmer. England was not the place for me. I'm supposed to be in the sun.”

Like many young people with aspirations for success and fame, not to mention a penchant for warm weather, Yashere's search for life beyond England ultimately led her to Los Angeles. For someone who describes herself on Twitter as a “superstar in waiting,” it is a logical career move, but America has always had a pull on Yashere.

“I always thought that America was better than England. As a kid, I thought they had better toys, better everything. I always looked to America and said, 'I want to go there.' I would watch the TV shows, see kids riding around on their bikes and the manicured lawns, and I wanted to live there. That's always been a childhood dream.”

Yashere cut her teeth in the British comedy scene, appearing in comedy programs such as The Lenny Henry Show and Comic Relief Does Fame Academy. Her big break outside of England came in 2007 while she was on tour in Australia. Last Comic Standing, the popular reality television talent show for comics, had decided to hold auditions outside of America for the first time and had selected Sydney as their site for Australian auditions. She went to the audition and was selected for a spot on the fifth season of the show. Although she was eliminated in the seventh episode, her participation on LCS opened the doors to working in America.

“In order to do the show,” Yashere recalls, “they organised a two-year work visa. I said to the lawyer, 'That means I can live and work in America for up to two years?' And they said yes. I put my house in London on the market, sold away everything I owned and turned up in America for the [LCS] finals with just two suitcases to my name.”

Since then, Yashere has appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Good News Week, and in her one-hour comedy special Skinny B*tch on Showtime. Her comedy focuses on “fish out of water” subject matter, offering unique observations from her perspective as a black, British comedian. Despite the specific perspective she brings to the material, she describes her style as fundamentally cosmopolitan.

“I do a lot of material that travels very well because my stuff is very broad and worldly.”

In this sense, Gina Yashere hopes her success in America is just the beginning of her global stardom.

“I'll start my world domination from there, and it will trickle to everywhere else.”